The present disclosure relates generally to a method and system for monitoring physiological parameters of a patient. Specifically, embodiments of the disclosure relate to the assessment of shock using regional saturation data.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of the art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of medicine, doctors often desire to monitor certain physiological characteristics of their patients. Accordingly, a wide variety of devices have been developed for monitoring many such characteristics of a patient. Such devices provide doctors and other healthcare personnel with the information they need to provide the best possible healthcare, monitor the progress of patient care, and detect changing conditions that potentially need attention. As a result, such monitoring devices have become an indispensable part of modern medicine.
Further, for complex clinical conditions, information representative of multiple physiological parameters may be used to diagnose or detect conditions that have widespread physiological effects. For example, shock is a clinical syndrome that, in certain cases, may be characterized by decreased blood flow to the capillary beds. This condition typically occurs when arterial pressure and subsequently tissue blood flow decrease to a degree that the amount of delivered oxygen is inadequate to meet the metabolic needs of the tissue. During shock, the body directs blood to the heart and the brain, often at the expense of relatively less important organs such as the liver, skin, muscle, and gut. However, monitoring such changes in blood flow towards primary organs and away from secondary organs may be challenging, particular for patients who are ill or for pediatric patients.